Scourge's Guide
You want to keep tabs on the city but don't know how to go about it? It's easier for a vampire to slip in and out of the city than you think and vampiric disciplines only go so far. Say for instance you have Auspex which lets you read people's auras and get a glimpse of their emotions and if they're supernatural. Running around an entire city, if you're even lucky enough to have Auspex, staring down every single person you come across is like trying to find a random asteroid in the night sky with a hand held telescope. It's ineffective and slightly pointless. How then do you develop a strategy to keep tabs on the Kindred population that moves in and out of the city? The best word I have for you is networking and networking in the biggest ways. Kindred *The Sheriff – as a person whose duty it is to enforce the Traditions, he depends on other Kindred to let him know when violations have been made. This means that most times the Sheriff will already know who is in the city upon approval. Spending most of her time in Court, the Sheriff will know generally when someone has introduced themselves and if they can let you know who has will cut your prowling time down. *The Seneschal – generally coordinates with the Primogen to keep an eye on their clan-mates and is a good source for when new arrivals come into the city since they are the gateway to the Prince. A quick snapshot of new arrivals and sent to you on your smart phone cuts out wasted time. Mortals *Mortals can be coerced, manipulated, and bribed. Disciplines which affect the mind (Dominate/Dementation) and emotion (Presence/Dementation) can help to manipulate and coerce. Presence can make a person like you or agree with your ideas as they do what you ask or do little favors. Dominate, you can simply tell them what to do, or even Condition them to do specific things in certain situations – almost like programming them. Dementation at the first level completely saps a person of their ability to care that you're asking questions or snooping around. At the same time, you can make them very passionate about doing their job. *Retainers, fully bound, and placed in key spots throughout the city are also good eyes and ears for you. Security personnel at the airport or train-station, the ticket cashier at a bus terminal, the guy who washes the big rig trucks on a busy freeway stop, or an inn keeper that sees a lot of people come and go are just a few ideas on how to keep tabs on the thoroughfares of the city. *Tapping into the hard-lines of CCTV systems for major transportation hubs with a guy to monitor can help as well. This idea and the one above free your time up because you don't have to constantly be monitoring these areas and means you in a way are in more than one place with eyes and ears. *Bribing and threatening these key personnel can also help get you what you want but when they're not fully bound and could possibly see something they're not supposed to it means that the Masquerade needs to be taken into consideration. *Having subtle signs leading Kindred to personnel or fliers with your phone number can also lead wayward souls to Court. Not all Kindred are trying to hide. Animal Spies *The use of the discipline Animalism can have numerous benefits. Rats, cats, ravens, dogs, and the like who wander in areas that you need watched can much more easily be coerced and more than that – they can't tell anyone about what or who they see. This means you're not risking the Masquerade. The big downside is that they won't be able to tell you exactly what you want. Not always understanding the purview of men their messages sometimes need to be decoded. Odd-ball Disciplines *Necromancy: Not that you're exactly going to always have someone versed in this gift as Scourge; wraiths could be very useful spies. *Thaumaturgy: Specifically some rituals. This does require a bit of creativity and Storyteller approval. Ward versus Ghouls for instance could be placed on a door frame or door knob that is commonly used in buildings with a lot of traffic. Not every Kindred is going to move with an entourage but enough do that this could be an effective tactic. If you have any other means in which to make the job of Scourge easier or have seen other creative ways in which to go about the job, email us at embrace.approval@gmail.com.